An excursion into the mad world of inner city ministry, sin, grace, redemption and the power of Christ

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

prayer in the Life of Elijah (Part 7)

Honest prayerAlthough Elijah displayed many acts of great faith, he was still just a man and experienced times of great discouragement and weakness. Perhaps the clearest example of this is when he fled to Mount Horeb to escape the persecution of Jezebel. He came to sit under a broom tree and prayed that he would die.Although the weakness and lack of faith displayed by Elijah is not something that should be emulated, it is still important to notice the level of intimacy that Elijah had with God even during this season of his life. He honestly and humbly confesses to the Lord that he is tired and unworthy for the task to which he has been called (I Kings 19:4). He did not try to hide from the Lord but prayed to Him even in his darkest hour.Often in our prayer lives it is the times when we are the most discouraged and overwhelmed with the pressures of life that we neglect to seek God. When problems arise or tragedy strikes, it is easy to become consumed with fixing things ourselves or sinking into depression. We can believe the lie that we are too busy to pray because we need to take action. Or we can be deceived into believing that our prayers will not be effective until we pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and get our act together. This is not what is seen from the experience of Elijah. At his lowest point, he confessed his exhausted, helpless state and left it in God’s hands. God was pleased to show His faithfulness to His weary and doubting servant and sustained Elijah. Let us be quick to honestly confess our weaknesses and failures to our God and trust in His sustenance.